GUESS HOW MANY BUBBLES WERE BLOWN AT BLUESFEST?

PLUS THE LATEST UPDATE ON 2017 TICKETS!

Sorry to burst your bubble...

We weren’t able to calculate that figure, BUT we have put together plenty of fascinating facts, figures and tidbits from this year’s festival for your reading pleasure!

If you have purchased our hugely sought after 3 Day Pre-early Bird Tickets or 5 Day Early Bird Tickets for 2017 please skip over our Ticket alert and get immersed in the world of Bluesfest further below...

..but if you want to score yourself a bargain for Bluesfest 2017 then make sure you don't miss our Ticket alert !

2017 TICKET ALERT

The 3 Day Pre-early Bird Ticket

On sale since this Monday 9th of May and selling out fast!

Since we went on sale with the 3 Day Pre-early Bird Ticket on Monday, the demand has been overwhelming. At $275 p/p the 3 day-er is at its best price in many years.

Pick your 3 consecutive days now, and listen out, because this is important:

Should you wish to change your 3 Days on your Ticket, you can do this until a few weeks before the Festival, without having to pay any Ticket price difference. All you have to do is ring the office on 02 6685 8310 and our helpful team will process the change for you. It’s so easy and it’s so flexible.

Check out all 3 Day Pre-early Bird Ticket prices available right now. These Tickets will not be available for long and will be taken off the market soon.

The 5 Day Early Bird Ticket

On sale since this Monday 9th of May and in huge demand!

After the biggest 5 day Pre-sale recorded in Bluesfest history, the 5 Day Early Bird Tickets are also leaving their mark and selling very fast. Right now you can still score yourself a 5 day-er for $395 - that’s only $79 per day for up to 12 hours of music from day to night.

Check out all 5 Day Early Bird Ticket prices available right now. They are being snapped up quickly, as more and more of our Bluesfest friends are locking in their Bluesfest 2017 journey and they will not return at this price!

MANY HANDS MAKE LIGHT WORK

Over 500 volunteers lent a helping hand across the various festival departments!

A total of 1816 workers were employed over the festival over numerous departments including, Admin, Bars, Site, Camping, Catering, Gates, Cloakroom, Media, Waste and Recycling, Stalls, Outside Shows and so many more!

63 staff looked after artist transport alone!

GREENING BLUESFEST

14.5 tonnes of recyclables were diverted from landfill which equals the greenhouse benefit of 43.42 cars being permanently removed from the roads or the landfill savings of 543.23 wheelie bins being saved

8.38 tonnes of cardboard was collected and recycled from the festival

A Community Garden received 2.26 tonnes of compostable material from the festival to be processed and used on gardens

1.86 tonnes of food waste from the festival was collected and donated to a local pig farmer

1500 litres of cooking oil was diverted from general waste and sent to a recycling facility

Leftover food was donated to a local community organisation who feed the homeless

50 chairs and 10 tents were donated to a local op shop

KEEPING IT SOCIAL

The Bluesfest Facebook page reached over 100,000 followers during the festival!

Everyone was going insta crazy over the festival and the amount of followers on Instagram has nearly doubled since the last festival!

61 reviewers and 82 photographers attended the official Bluesfest sideshows around the Country

A WORTHY CAUSE

This year Bluesfest had 10 charities on site

Cystic Fibrosis raised $47,000 throughout the duration of the festival through their guitar raffles of donated Gibson guitars bringing their total raised at Bluesfest over the last 17 years to an impressive $471,000

The Playing For Change Foundation, who create positive change through music and arts education, raised over $20,000 at their charity stall and were approached by 100's of festival patrons who want to get involved and help the foundation

Byron Youth Service, who provide services for young people between the ages of 12 -24 years and their families raised $14,635.00 during the festival

CROWD PLEASERS

American southern rockers Blackberry Smoke sold the most merch at Bluesfest this year!

Australian twin brothers duo, the Pierce Brothers, were the #1 CD seller!

Multi-instrumentalist Rhiannon Giddens (who also was very popular at the CD store) stunned the crowds with her talent and captivating stage presence. If you missed her or just want to re-live the joy, listen to her Radio National Live Set from Bluesfest here

Soul sensations, St. Paul and The Broken Bones made a HUGE impact at the festival, FASTERLOUDER called the Bluesfest debutants “Without a doubt the limelight-stealer of 2016’s Bluesfest” THE MUSIC called them “the find of the festival.”

San Francisco’s Con Brio also created a stir at the festival with front-man Ziek McCarter mesmerising the crowd with his dance moves which have led to comparisons to Michael Jackson – if you missed it at Bluesfest, then you can see it for yourself here

Another name on everyone’s lips at the festival was Lukas Nelson and his band Promise of the Real REVERB called them “The surprise act of the festival” and RHYTHMS MAGAZINE called Lukas “a born entertainer”

Vintage Trouble were also dubbed a festival favourite by many and also the most photogenic with some incredible pics emerging of the soul/ R&B band including this beauty (above) captured by one of our official festival photographers Tao Jones.

CULTURAL EXCHANGE

The Boomerang Festival was a much welcomed addition to Bluesfest this year and showcased first nation artists from across the globe including Papua New Guinea , Fiji, New Zealand, Tibet, Canada, Rotuma Island, Soloman Islands

DISCOVERING TALENT

The annual Bluesfest Busking Comp featured 40 performances over 2 days, and there were 7 finalists that took to the stage on Good Friday to battle it out.

The 2016 Bluesfest busking competition was won by IVY, a 3-piece band from the central coast

Local Byron Bay sisters, Maple took out the 2016 Grommet Busking Competition, they have been entering the grommet comp since its inception in 2012.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

DAD’S THE WORD

Jazz superstar Kamasi Washington, Canada’s upcoming Americana/ Country group The Bros. Landreth and Julz from Australia’s much loved folk duo Hussy Hicks all had their fathers make an appearance on stage at Bluesfest to perform with them!

We also had a very special father and son duo on the bill this year – Tweedy, featuring Wilco front man Jeff Tweedy and his son Spencer Tweedy on the drums.

BROTHERS

BONUS FUN FACT: Matt Berninger’s (The National’s lead singer) brother Tom, created the documentary Mistaken For Strangers, a loose account of life on the road for the band.

As the name suggests, the Pierce Brothers comprises of twin brothers Jack and Pat Pierce. The teriffic twosome made a huge impact at the festival with their energetic performances.

I DO

Canadian husband and wife duo Raven Kanetakta and ShoShona Kish (Digging Roots) had the crowd dancing at Bluesfest with a massive pow wow circle.

Husband and wife duo Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore, who were born in Texas and now live in New York were very busy at the festival performing as The Mastersons as well as performing with Steve Earle (as part of his touring band The Dukes) at Bluesfest and on tour.